In the new "Failed States Index" compiled by Foreign Policy magazine and the Fund for Peace, Somalia has displaced Sudan at the top of the list. Sudan is number two, followed by Zimbabwe and Chad. Iraq, which ranked second last year, has retreated to fourth. Israel, ranking 58, for the first time appears in the top 60. The US ranks 161. Norway ranks last at 177.

In Latin America, Colombia also showed improvement, moving from 33 to 37, and out of the red "alert" category (the top 35)—leaving the western hemisphere free of an "alert" for the first time.

We recently invoked last year's index, noting that the new classified National Intelligence Council report on the security threat of climate change similarly ranks nations by risk level, apparently naming many of the same countries near the top, and similarly singling out the Sahel as a most-threatened region.

See our last post on global climate destabilization.